Fiona Gregory Therapy

08/09/2026

Dr Louise Newson

07/09/2026

Autistic Girls Network

If your daughter's biggest difficulty is social communication, you've probably been prescribed more of the thing that broke her. More time in a busy classroom. More clubs. A lunchtime social skills group, if the school runs one. And when that doesn't work, the suggestion that she isn't trying.

Here's what nobody says at the meeting. Being in the room is not the same as learning to be with people. For a lot of autistic girls, being present in a mainstream classroom every day looked like coping right up until the crash. It was masking, and masking is not communication.

Social communication is learned where it's used, in real relationships with people who are consistent and known. It isn't a subject. Which is why the girl who has been home for a year isn't in a neutral holding position while a placement is argued over. She's losing a year in which nothing about communication gets easier.

Our school, The Haven has written up how it approaches this, including the research on why a neurodivergent peer group helps rather than hinders. Worth reading whether or not The Haven is for your family, see the link in the comments.

03/09/2026

Anna Freud

Did you know families of autistic people in England can now join free NHS-funded online group sessions?

These are small, supportive groups where family members can share experiences, learn from one another and feel supported. These small, supportive groups bring family members together to explore helpful ideas and build confidence in supporting the autistic people in their lives. Sessions are co-produced and co-delivered, bringing together lived experience and research evidence. They're free to attend and funded by the NHS through our Autism Central programme.

Whether you’re a parent, carer, adult sibling, grandparent or another family member, you’ll find a welcoming space to connect, learn and share with others who may be navigating similar experiences.

Here are some of the group sessions we are running in September:

· Supporting healthy habits around video gaming

· Supporting autistic people with school, learning and community

· Understanding distress and preventing crisis

· School-induced emotional burden in autistic and ADHD students

Explore upcoming sessions and book your place: https://orlo.uk/kfgKa

NHS England Workforce, Training and Education

03/09/2026

The Gottman Institute

03/09/2026

Dr Louise Newson

02/09/2026

Dr Louise Newson

06/06/2026

Janina Fisher Ph.D.

05/06/2026

Janina Fisher Ph.D.

If the experience is a single event, and we have adequate support afterward, and we have had little or no prior trauma, then we will be left shaken, but the events will feel “behind” us now. If traumatic events have been recurrent, and/or we are developmentally vulnerable, and/or we have inadequate support, we can be left with a host of ‘implicit’ memories, intense responses and symptoms that “tell the story” but without words and without the knowledge that we are remembering.